The War Is Over

This film has aged rather well considering that it's nearly 40 years old, that the concrete political situation(the Franco dictatorship in Spain)it was enmeshed in has disappeared, and that the musical score, the very mannered montage, and the sex scenes are all hopelessly dated and stilted. What gives this film its vitality is the screenplay written by Jorge Semprun, and it resonates today as well as it did in the mid-60s. Semprun had just written his classic, "The Long Voyage", in 1963, and the crisp trenchancy of his narrative style is just as evident in this film as it was in that story of his 1944 voyage to Buchenwald as a captured fighter of the French Resistance. Though we may not feel any longer the need to reassess the strategy of how to overthrow Franco, we still know what it's like to feel you're at the end of the rope with no place to leap to (both politically and psychologically). What Semprun reminds us, both in this film and in "The Long Voyage," is that it's the opportunities to experience solidarity with and support for others over the course of the journey that matters in the end.

"Patience and irony are the chief virtues of a Bolshevik."

Beautifully shot, with splashes of visual flair, like the fast edits or the scenes with the exquisite shimmering of light on the ceiling, an echo of the haze of looking back on a life of an underground struggle against fascism in Spain following the Civil War. The film highlights the need for perseverance, brotherhood, and sacrifice over the long haul to achieve regime change, as well as the melancholy that comes from perceiving that at some point one's own personal "war" may be over, but the movement will continue on in younger hands.

I loved the idea of it, but unfortunately, the story is about as dry as toast, and it takes far too long to get to the most interesting bit, which was the old guard revolutionary (Yves Montand) confronted with newer radicals who disagree with him on tactics. I wish that part had been more developed. There is just too much time spent on mundane aspects beforehand, the details for which were rather muddled, to sustain a two hour film. Even the presence of Geneviève Bujold and Ingrid Thulin couldn't save it from being a dull affair, and how Resnais shot the love scene between Bujold and Montand in such a (nearly comical) artsy way didn't help matters. As an exercise in filmmaking and with these stars, it holds some level of interest, but it's hard to see how anyone could get excited over it. Seeing it once was enough.

Yves Montand is a Spaniard in exile in Paris, a Communist working for the central committee in exile in Paris, trying to jump-start the Revolution. He's very professional about what he does. But the Spanish government has arrested agents and he realizes he's grown tired of the never-ending struggle, the insistence of the committee in Paris that their view from a distance gives them better insight than the people who are stationed in Spain. His lover, Ingrid Thulin wants his child, and he indulges in.a tired rant in front of her friends./coworkers tat everything moves and nothing changes.

Montand gives a fine performance as a man growing tired of the always hopeful attitude of the revolutionaries, their insistance on working out the details of life, anxious to snatch small bits of autonomy wherever he can He has grown tired of being a good soldier who sees no end to the war. Will he remain a good soldier? Can he? And what if he cannot?

Alain Resnais movie is far more straightforward than his other works, although he does make liberal use of flashbacks and interpolative stills. With Geneviève Bujold, Jean Dasté, and Michel Piccoli.

Deleuze indicates that Resnais is one of the greatest political film-makers in the West, in modern cinema. According to him, this greatness comes from that they know how to show how people are what is missing, what is not there instead of presence of the people. Also, this film is related to a Spain that will not be seen: do the people in the old central committee stand with the young tereosits or the tired militant?

"La Guerre est Finie" aka The War is Over (1966) from French master Alain Resnais, is a taut intellectual yet very much visual thriller. Yves Montand is in his mature prime, and Ingrid Thulin so quietly sensual, while Geneviève Bujold gave an impressive debut performance. Resnais' creative cinematic approach in rich visual play mixed with voice-over narration, aptly intensified the suspense. We're literally inside Montand's character Diego's head - thinking with him, seeing through his eyes, having memory tracking along with him in either flash back or flash forward. We feel Thulin's subtle moves as Marianne - a slight turn of her head, gentle extension of her neck, every movement so delicately modest yet sensual in volumes. Bujold's Nadine has such delicious youthful verve befitting the character - she is the exciting accent. Thulin and Bujold each has an intimate segment opposite Montand delivered in Resnais' unique and refreshing points of view. It is cinematic nuance truly savory and appreciation optimal.

Cinematography in black and white by Sacha Vierny is poignantly appropriate - suspense would probably be lessen if delivered in color. Music score by Giovanni Fusco further ensured the distinctive quality of this film. You can tell this is no Hollywood thriller formula. In fact, the film can very well be a character study of Diego or a visual journey through the interplay of character relationships, yet it's suspenseful nonetheless. The beginning segment with veteran actor Michel Piccoli as the shrewd custom inspector questioning Montand's Diego certainly is tense as any other spy thriller yarn.

The war in the title can very well be within Diego: to decide whether to continue this life of 'professional revolutionary' or to start anew a 'normal' life with Marianne. The dilemma also carries over to Marianne: to decide to stay in Paris or love conquers all in pursuit after Diego (to the point of being a matter of life and death, indeed). "The War is Over" may seem complex, but it's actually an easier to follow film than other Resnais endeavors. Give it a try. It's available on DVD. Caution: do ignore the dubbed in English alternative - it would not be the real thing, definitely non-flavorful. Experience the film in French with English subtitles.